The present invention relates to a printed circuit card guide adaptor suitable for use in a printed circuit card module.
In an effort to reduce the size of complex electronic systems, great attention has been focused through the years on the fabrication of printed circuit board or card modules which may be physically mounted in a closely spaced relationship to provide an extremely compact organization of plural circuits or systems. However, further efforts to additionally decrease the size of such modules have encountered difficulties with assembly of the printed circuit card arrangements, alignment of the elements, proper registration between the printed circuit cards and associated connector elements, and proper spacing and insulating between the respective circuits, among the numerous difficulties.
Printed circuit card modules have been provided in numerous forms in an attempt to overcome the aforementioned difficulties and also to provide for accessibility and ease of repair of the individual circuits included in the arrangement. Arrangements, such as the "book-type" module wherein the cards are positioned in a closely spaced relationship and hinged along a common edge so as to provide accessibility to the interior cards, much in the same manner as the pages of book, have been developed to satisfy the requirement of accessibility. Other arrangements have provided both horizontal and vertical stacks of cards oriented through more or less complicated spacing and aligning elements so as to provide proper spacing and alignment between the respective cards and the associated electrical connector elements.
However, in spite of the progress that has been made over the years in connection with such printed circuit card modules, difficulties relating to interchangeability of individual cards so as to provide simplified circuit modification, simplified assembly and disassembly for purposes of initial manufacture and subsequent repair, and accuracy in alignment between the respective cards and registration between the cards and the associated connector elements have proven to be ever present problems.
A recent improvement provided a printed circuit card stiffener frame and guide pin arrangement in association with a printed circuit card module which tends to more clearly achieve the aforementioned objectives than those of the more distant prior art. However, all printed circuit cards do not embody a stiffener frame. Ease of interchangeability of cards is greatly desirable and eagerly sought after by industry. Therefore, a means must be provided which enables one to achieve the ease of interchangeability of the printed circuit cards while still being able to benefit from the guide pin arrangement.
An object of this invention is to provide suitable means for enabling the attachment of printed circuit cards without stiffener frames attached thereto to prior art guide in arrangements.
Another object of this invention is to provide an adapter which is readily assembled on a prior art printed circuit card guide pin mounting arrangement, which will accept printed circuit cards devoid of stiffener frames without excessive flexing of the cards.
Other objects of this invention will, in part, be obvious and will, in part, appear hereinafter.